Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Cold as usual this morning and the fog was thick on the ground.


When they cut down a lot of trees in the forest a year ago, they left all branches and smaller trees in big piles in the forest. Now a year later they have grinded it all down to chips and placed in containers. Much of it missed the containers and fell to the ground. So when I came home I met my neighbours shuffeling some of it up in to big sacks to use in their stove (it was their trees that were cut down last year) and when I passed they told me to grab some sacks in their stable and take as much as I wanted with me home.



Horse tail, but we call it Fox tail in sweden.

It´s going to be very cold, windy and rainy these comming days, so I got my car and filled four sacks that I brought home. Perfect, now I don´t have to buy fire logs when the weather gets bad tomorrow. Not that fire logs costs much, but if one can get it for free why not :-) and it can be difficult to find them now out of season. It´s going to rain a lot comming days, over 50mm ( two inches) and in some places the wind might even reach the force of storm. This is a typical swedish summer, but we usually have it a bit warmer than we have now. If we´re unlucky this weather will continue all summer.


Now I have enough to put in my stove when the bad weather comes. I have to be careful with it though, because it burns fast and gets really hot so if unlucky the stove can be damaged.



The magpies that nests in the crabapple tree by my dogyard has decided to raise their young ones in my garden. I can´t for my life understand why. They know I have two cats and three dogs here and it´s not the safest place for magpie younglings. The magpies let their young ones out from the nest quite early and they can´t fly that good so their easy pray for cats and dogs. So now there´s a lot of noice in my garden all day long :-) As soon a cat, a dog or I comes a bit to close they start to scream really loud. I hope they move soon, I don´t want to find a dead young one in my garden.
Have a great day now!

14 comments:

jaz@octoberfarm said...

hi christer....i love the pic of your dog with his tongue out. we just had a big storm. it is very hot and humid here and the skies opened. the rain was so big that i first thought it was hail. now it is bright and sunny. when those magpie babies start leaving the nest there should be much activity in your garden! who has the better chance of getting one? dog vs cat? good score on the wood chips. they would also be good for mulching. joyce

Anonymous said...

Christer, keep the cats and dogs inside until you see the Magpie young can fly. Or make sure you are with them if they go out. I 'd be worried too. But birds are funny. They have nesting habits which are constantly changing. Good photos again today. Glad for you the chips were free. Wish I could send you some Florida sunshine. We've been in the high 90's this week and rain every afternoon with flash flood advisories so we turn off our computers and wait it out.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi joyce!
Why can´t we get sunshine at day and rain at the nights :-)

The one that most probably would take a magpie youngling is old Erna. She might not se much, but she the one that can take a bird once in a while.

I wonder if the chips isn´t to fresh to use for mulching. I´m afraid that they would use most of the nitrogin in its surroundings. But give it another year or so and it would be perfect.
Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Z&M!
The young magpies can fly but badly. I think that my cats still has much to learn until they can catch a magpie, but they can ofcourse be lucky. The one I have to watch is my oldest dog. She might see bad and hear almost nothing, but shes fast as few and has the skills. But she´s in the dogyard when I´m not at home.

I too wish You could send some sunshine over here :-) But usually when June is bad July is good and then is when we ahe our vacations. I really hope it goes that way this year too :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

Hi Christer...I would feel the same way. I wouldn't want to come across a dead one either...makes one feel so bad! I always have ficus trees in pots on my porch or patio..and I had a lovely one by my front door. I was pleased when a little hummingbird built her nest in it...and it was so low that if I touched the branch I could see the babies...they were nearly ready to test their wings...had all their little feathers..and I came out one morning and a male cat that would come by our house now and then and spray the front door..(it used to make me SO mad) :) and move on...had gotten the little birds..nest was down and birdies all gone. I have learned to discourage them from building right near my door as there are cats that have their rounds. I know it happens ..a lot during nesting season..I just don't want to witness it! So..I know exactly what you mean.
I love your pictures today...and I always enjoy seeing your animals!
Glad you liked the pic's of all the food. I gained 10 pounds just taking the pictures. It really was delicious though!
I am playing catch up this morning...or rather afternoon. :)
Take good care, Christer...
Mona
P.S. We are having such cold weather here today. Went out and rushed back inside. No rain..but June Gloom is upon us in California..the heat was on yesterday...can you imagine? Well..yes, I guess you can! :)

Vittran said...

Vädret gör att man måste elda. Som tur har vi egen skog som vi hugger ved i. Så vi har ett lager.
Alla fåglar här omkring lever farligt, fem katter som smyger omkring här äter en del. Även om hunden är liten så gillar han fåglar. Glömmer aldrig när han tog en kanadagässunge som var lika stor som honom själv och släpade iväg med den. Fågeln blev inte så skadad som tur var så den fick leva.
Ha en bra dag!

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Mona!
I´ve noticed that You´ve been busy today :-) :-) But I have answered on every comment I found :-)

It would break my heart if they had cought a hummingbird here (but we don´t have hummingbirds on this side of the ocean). But it´s really sad if they cought a magpie too.
Old Erna would kill it, but Orvar and Hector would probably opnly lick it to death.

You always have pictures of delisious food :-) :-) The problem is that I forget what You wrote about when seeing all these cakes :-) :-) :-)

It has been raining all day here and it´s cold too. So now there´s a fire in the stove too keep us all warm. Wouldn´t mind if there came at least a little bit sunshine tomorrow when many graduate here in Skaraborg.
Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Tjänare Vittran!
Kul att se dig här!
Ja egen skog hade varit toppen, men det är ju en del jobb bakom all ved också. Kanske jag trots allt är för lat :-) :-)

Vad är det med vissa hundar och katter när de försöker ta något som är lika stort eller större än dem själva :-) :-) Kompisens katt tog en vuxen hare något större än sig själv en gång. Haren var så stor att den inte kom in genom kattluckan, utan den slets av när katten kämpade för att få in den :-) :-) :-)
Ha en riktigt skön dag nu!
Välkommen tillbaka!
Christer.

NinaH said...

Good to have fire fixed for free!! Congratulation!;-)
Take good care of "your" Magpies!;-)

Kat said...

Christer,
I guess that makes you the protector for the young magpies. I know my dog wouldn't hurt them though she'd be curious enough to go check them out. She wants the rabbits, the cats and other dogs.

We'll share the next few days of rain.

I love morning fog.

Valerie said...

Hi Christer.

Magpie babies sound so cute. I'll have to google those as I don't think I know what they look like! Are they noisy?

Seasoned wood (in your case, woodchips) are wonderful for burning...no fighting with wet wood! I imagine it would burn very hot in your stove though!

BTW...I left you a message on my blog with regard to the magnolia tree along with a link to learn more about the variety we planted.

Take care,
Valerie

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Nina!
Thanks :-)
I´ll at least look after them so Erna wount grab them :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Kat!
My oldest dog would kill them for sertain, but her sons would probably lick them to death. Thet feel the urge to nurse everything they get hold of, wether the captured animal needs it or not :-)

Morning fog in the summer when one doesn´t need to drive anywhere is great! But If I need to drive in it I don´t like it at all :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Valerie!
Magpie babies are very cute and looks really wounreble, but that´s just a cover :-) Magpies are noisy if they feel like it and they usuaally does :-) Very intelligent birds too and a bit of a thief too. They love everything that shines, so if they for instance sees a shiny small spoon, they grab it and takes it to their nest. They can also, like a parrot, learn to speak and are really good at it if one can train them from they are young.

I have to be careful when using the chips in the stove, they burn fast and hot. So I pack them in milk cartoons so there isn´t to much ait fklowing in to the fire. I ofcourse stops most of the in air to the stove too. Then it´s perfect to use for the fire :-)

I´ll read Your answer in Your blog now!
Have a great day now!
Christer.